It’s the end of the year, the Global Magnitsky sanctions are here

In
what’s become something of a festive tradition over the past few years, the US
Treasury Department has released new
designations of individuals
and entities sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Act –
essentially a Santa’s list of the corrupt and serious human rights abusers.

The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (known
as the Global Magnitsky Act for short) allows the US government to sanction
perpetrators of serious human rights abuses and corruption outside of the
country, denying them visas and freezing their US-based property and interests
in property.

Those targeted by the act since it was enacted in 2016
include 17
individuals involved in the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi;
and billionaire Israeli mining magnate Dan Gertler – a notorious
middleman in the Democratic Republic of Congo linked to numerous
bribery scandals (though he has consistently denied any wrongdoing).

In
December 2019 they were joined by a few individuals who are of particular
interest to us:

Try Pheap and Kun Kim – Cambodia

The former a timber tycoon and the latter a general, Try
Pheap and Kun Kim are both close associates of Cambodia’s autocratic Prime
Minister Hun Sen, and have been linked to serious human rights and
environmental abuses under existing OFAC guidance.

Try Pheap was the subject of our report
last year laying out the case for targeted sanctions. He was found to
be at the helm of a multi-million dollar timber smuggling operation, destroying
the country’s forests and the lives of those who depend on them. He has also
funded the Cambodian military, which has perpetrated a systemic campaign of
land seizures and mass displacement throughout the country.

We have also documented Kun Kim’s
association with a Malaysian logging company which engaged in persistent
illegal logging. The general has been described by Human Rights Watch as a “notorious
human rights abuser”, with allegations stretching back to his membership
of the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s.

Global Witness has been investigating the links between
illegal logging and human rights abuses in Cambodia since we were founded, so it’s
encouraging to see action being taken against those involved in these
activities.

Min Aung Hlaing – Myanmar

Commander-in-chief of Myanmar’s armed forces, Senior General
Min Aung Hlaing is alleged, along with three other military leaders, to have
overseen atrocities committed by the military against the country’s Rohingya
Muslims as well as serious abuses against other ethnic groups.

While
the use of targeted economic sanctions against prominent members of the
military is a welcome development and sends a critical signal that grave abuses
have consequences, the US should – as we’ve advocated –
expand the sanctions to include the two prominent companies controlled by the
military: Myanmar Economic Corporation and Myanmar Economic Holding Limited. A
recent United Nations-authorized report exposed
how the Myanmar military uses its control of ‘military companies’ to fund
itself and maintain its power, generating revenue that supports its ability to operate
outside civilian authority.

Why Global Magnitsky matters

The use of targeted sanctions is of course only part of the
anti-corruption puzzle, but they are an important tool in our arsenal.
Sanctions make it more difficult for corrupt individuals to launder their
ill-gotten gains in the US, or continue to do business in US dollars, the most
common global currency. It is a successful example of concrete action being
taken against the corrupt and the worst human rights abusers, hitting them
where it hurts the most – in their pocket. The inconvenience of being denied
entry to the US is also a significant penalty, as is the considerable stigma
that comes with being sanctioned.

By targeting individuals rather than entire countries or
sectors, the Magnitsky Act avoids broad-based sanctions that can affect vulnerable
populations. It also means that malicious individuals and networks can be
sanctioned despite broader foreign policy priorities which could otherwise
prevent effective actions – for instance, the 2017 and 2018 Global Magnitsky sanctions
listed above involved Saudi and Israeli nationals, countries which are
strategic allies of the US and thus unlikely to be the subject of broader
financial sanctions.

Global Magnitsky crosses the Atlantic

In a recent piece of good news, EU
foreign ministers reached a political agreement to bring forward legislation to
sanction human rights abuses. If passed, this would send a strong message to those
who may commit or be complicit in abuses that the financial centres and
currencies of the world’s two largest economies are off limits.

We hope that the EU legislation passes quickly and that it
will be strong enough to act as an effective deterrent. It’s disappointing that
the proposal only applies to human rights abuses and doesn’t cover corruption,
like the US Magnitsky Act does. Hopefully, when the legislation takes shape in
the new year, the positive example set by the US Act will encourage the EU to
go further than their current proposals.

Then,
we will be one step closer to a world where there is no safe haven for the
corrupt and those who disregard fundamental human rights.